The Power of Time-Lapse and Tilt-Shift

A few years ago I found a time-lapse video online that I watched at 2am and I was struck by so much awe and beauty I bookmarked the video and it's been on the top of my browser ever since.  Give it a quick look... I promise you'll feel calmer in about 15 seconds:

The soundtrack is what I think really sells it. Even without the visual, the piano is so calming it makes me want to melt away like warm butter into a soft and beautiful sleep. Okay enough of this poetry-mush... let's get down to business. The first question is how do they get these beautiful steady shots over a period of time? For that, let us turn to the magical world of the internet, also known as the largest free education database in existence:

Okay, so now we all know how to create a stunning time-lapse videos. Good. But photographer Keith Loutit has taken it a step further and added another element to his time-lapse videos: tilt-shift. 

Tilt-shift, for those less aware, is a stylistic type of blurring that can make large landscape pictures look like little miniature models. I grabbed these two pictures as examples... and even though these are normal real-life shots taken over a large area, this simple blurring effect makes them look very small. 

So what happens when you combine this effect with a time-lapse video? Cool looking shit, that's what. 

Check out Loutit's time-lapse over the skyline of Shanghai:

TimeScapes

Time lapse photography. I am fascinated with it. When we talked about Koyaanisqatsi (and a couple of other related films that I can't remember right now), I immediately thought of a project that I saw on Vimeo a couple of years ago, TimeScapes...

When I purchased my first DSLR, I researched a bunch of different tricks I could do with it. I naturally went to Vimeo where I stumbled across the profile of award-winning cinematographer Tom Lowe. His focus was nature, and his work was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. He soon embarked on a journey across the American southwest to record some of the most beautiful landscapes and cultures on Earth.

Released a few months ago, TimeScapes is the first 4K film to be sold to the public. While I have not seen it yet, it looks gorgeous (I really want to see it, but am waiting for some cash so can purchase the Bluray version... damn being a poor college kid). From all of the trailers, I can gauge a few things: the night sky is freaking beautiful, I want a RED camera, time lapses are even cooler when on a moving rig, and there is no need for a narrative to make a film work.

Non-narrative films are things that I am starting to enjoy. As I grow up, I appreciate art more and more. These films are as much art as they are entertainment. With my camera and remote shutter/timer, I hope to someday create something 1/100th as creative as TimeScapes.

Check out one of the many awesome trailers for TimeScapes below. And for more information on the film, check it out here.